From privateers to peacekeepers, from sailing ship battles to submarine espionage, New Brunswick’s recorded naval history dates back to the first European incursions.

Bounded on three sides by the ocean and with a network of navigable rivers, the sea has dominated the province’s history. The battles between the English and the French led to seaborne invasion and the expulsion of the Acadians. When the Americans and British plundered each other for patriotism and profit in the War of 1812, New Brunswick built its own navy to protect its shipping. In 1881, the new Dominion of Canada chose New Brunswick as its first naval base, and three decades later, MP George Foster initiated the parliamentary debate that led to the founding of the modern Canadian Navy.

This fact-filled volume tells the story of the province’s unique contribution to Canada’s storied naval history, culminating with a description of how, by the Naval Centennial year of 2010, the bulk of the modern Canadian fleet was designed and constructed in New Brunswick.